The Dominion of Canada and the other self governing dependencies of the British Crown faithfully reproduce the forms of monarchy. The governor-general of Canada, as the repre sentative of the British sovereign, has the pre rogative of calling and dissolving Parliament, of appointing the members of the Privy Council, of nominating the Senate. Parliament is opened by him with a "speech from the throne.* But, like the monarch whom he represents, he reigns but does not govern. Very rare have been the instances since the confederation, and those not cases of general policy, in which he has exer central legislature and those of the provinces, the subjects of legislation assigned to each be ing set forth in the Act. The exclusive leg islative authority of the Parliament of Canada extends to (1) the public debt and property; (2) the regulation of trade and commerce; (3) the raising of money by any mode or sys tem of taxation; (4) the borrowing of money on the public credit; (5) postal service; (6) the census and statistics; (7) militia, military and naval service and defense; (8) the fixing of and providing for the salaries and allowances of civil and other officers of the government of Canada; (9) beacons, buoys, lighthouses, and Sable Island; (10) navigation and shipping• (11) quarantine and the establishment and maintenance of marine hospitals; (12) the coast and inlet fisheries; (13) ferries between a province and any British or foreign country, or between two provinces; (14) currency and coin age; (15) banking, incorporation of banks and the issue of paper money; (16) savings banks; (17) weights and measures; (18) bills of ex change and promisso notes; (19) interest; (20) legal tender; (21) ) bankruptcy and insol vency; (22) patents of invention and discovery; (23) copyright; (24) Indians and lands re served for the Indians; (25) naturalization and aliens; (26) marriage and divorce; (27) the criminal law, except the constitution of courts of criminal jurisdiction, but including the procedure in criminal matters; (28) the establishment, maintenance and management of penitentiaries.
To the provincial legislatures are assigned (1) the amendment from time to time, not withstanding anything in the act, of the con stitution of the province, except as re gards the office of the lieutenant-governor; (2) direct taxation within the province in order to the raising of a revenue for provincial pur poses; (3) the borrowing of money on the sole credit of the province; (4) the establish ment and tenure of provincial offices, and the appointment and payment of provincial officers; (5) the management and sale of the public lands belonging to the province, and of the tim ber and wood thereon; (6) the establishment, maintenance and management of public and reformatory prisons in and for the province; (7) the establishment, maintenance and man agement of hospitals, asylums, charities and eleemosynary institutions in and for the prov inces, other than marine hospitals; (8) munic ipal institutions in the province; (9) shop, saloon, tavern, auctioneer and other licenses, in order to the raising of a revenue for provincial, local or municipal purposes; (10) local works and undertakings other than such as are of the following classes: (a) Lines of steam or other ships, railways, canals, telegraphs and other works and undertakings connecting the prov ince with any other or others of the provinces, or extending beyond the limits of the province; (b) lines of steamships between the province and any British or foreign country; (c) such works as, although wholly situate within the province, are before or after their execution declared by the Parliament of Canada to be for the general advantage of Canada or for the advantage of two or more of the provinces; (11) the incorporation of companies with provincial objects; (12) the solemnization of marriage in the province; (13) property and civil rights in the province; (14) the adminis tration of justice in the province, including the constitution, maintenance, organization of pro vincial courts, both of civil and of criminal jurisdiction, and including procedure in civil matters in those courts; (15) the imposition of punishment by fine, penalty or imprison ment for enforcing any law of the province made in relation to any matter coming within any of the classes of subjects enumerated in tins section; (16) generally all matters of a merely local or private nature in the province.
Powers not specifically given to the prov inces are reserved to the Dominion, whereas under the American constitution powers not specifically given to the Federal government are reserved to the States or to the people..
The judges are appointed by the Federal government and, as in Great Britain, for life or during good behavior, in contrast with the prac tice of tne United States, where judges are elected for a term of years. They can be re moved only by the governor-general on an ad dress from both houses of Parliament.
The Canadian Parliament consists, like the British, of two houses. The House of Com mons in which supreme legislative power practically resides, is elected almost by man hood suffrage; but by the Military Voters Act of 1917 the wives, widows, mothers, sisters or daughters of men who had served in the mili tary or naval forces of Canada or Great Britain during the Great War were given the right of voting in the election of that year. The North America Act apportions representation to the several provinces on the principles of popula tion and provides for decennial readjustment to meet changes in the balance of population. Mem bers of both houses are paid; in Great Britain only members of the House of Commons. The senators are appointed nominally by the Crown, really by the head of the party in power, and almost invariably on party grounds. Senator ships are for life, not hereditary like seats in the House of Lords, so that the political analogy is imperfect. On the other hand, party which ap points the Canadian Senate, controls it. It might otherwise block legislation and there would be no remedial force, while the British House of Lords, it is well understood, must give way to the will of the nation when persistently de clared. As it is, when the outgoing party hap pens to retain a majority in the Senate, there is danger of a block. The House of Commons is elected for a term of five years, subject, how ever, to the prerogative of dissolution. An amendment to the British North America Act was, owing to war conditions, passed in 1916 specially extending for one year the term of the Parliament then expiring.